Humane Society Opens Newly Renovated Center

Published October 18th, 2011

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The Alachua County Humane Society opened the doors to its newly renovated facility for the first time.
Mildred the dog is one of the animals enjoying the new facilities for the first time. She's a pit bull/boxer mix who's been at the shelter for about six months, but now her caregiver Nancy Lang hopes she'll find a new owner at the new building. Nancy calls the center "state of the art. I mean, the dogs and the cats have a wonderful living environment til they find their forever home, and I just love coming here."
Among the additions to the new facility are bigger kennels for the dogs, and more space for cats, too.
Fang is one of the cats who loves to be cuddled in one of the seven new cat rooms.
Ryan Kern is on the Board of Directors for the Humane Society and he says "it’s a beautiful four acre property with lots of green space to walk and run the dogs and we’ve really designed everything to be a better experience for the animals, a better experience for folks that want to come and adopt, and a better experience for our staff and volunteers that help do all the work to take care of the animals.”
The improvements on the old building came with a pretty hefty price tag. They've had to raise the cost of adopting an animal by about $25 each. However, Kern says "it’s been tolerated well by our adopting families and it’s helped defer some of the costs. That’s one thing that ebbs and flows, and we’re able to do sales and special event pricing and so it’s never a set price. It’s something that fluctuates as we need to.”
Kern says it'll take a while to fully pay for their investment, but the thrift store on site helps.
In the meantime, dogs like Mildred and cats like Fang are waiting to be adopted, albeit waiting comfortably.